Declaration of Truth and Justice
by Max Evelyn
Summary: This is post-movie, the truth is out and the good citizens of Metro City are mad. Megamind promises to help someone truly in need.
1. Chapter 1: Truth

**Title:** Declaration, Chapter 1: Truth

**Author:** Fearcat (Max Evelyn on )

**Co-Author/Beta: **dal_niente (megamind_movie Community)  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Post-movie, the truth is out and the good citizens of Metro City are mad. When Megamind promises to help someone in need.

**Author's Note:** I have dyslexia, so trying to beat it by writing my own fanfic will help. Yes, it's going to be slow going…but I will not give up. Megamind didn't give up, did he now?

I really have watched this movie so many times now that I've lost count. I've completely fallen in love with all the characters (but I think there needs to be more Megamind and Bernard fanfics). Anyway…this is what happens when you make a playlist of songs you think fit your fandom.

oh and a big thank you to the members megamind_movie community for your help.

**###**

The invisible car, which was very visible for a change, pulled up in front of Metro City Hall and Megamind and Minion stepped out. Cameras all around them flashed, all wanting the best pictures of the city's new defender.

Forty-eight hours before, Megamind had made an important announcement from the Lair to call a city-wide meeting with the mayor and other important people in the city. He had invited all the news station as well, and informed them that the meeting would be held at Metro City Hall, where all their questions would be answered.

Initially, Minion walked beside Megamind, but he stepped away from the blue alien when they entered the building. He looked back over his shoulder at the horde of flashing cameras. "I hope this works," he said in a low voice, and added "Sir," just as Roxanne's boss, Carl Frost, came up to them. Megamind smirked.

"Carl."

"Megamind, welcome!" Carl looked around expectantly, noticing that there was someone missing. "Where is my star reporter, Roxanne?"

Megamind glanced quickly at Minion, then looked back at the thin, blonde man, who looked to be in his late fifties. "She'll be here shortly," he smiled, and looked into Minion's grey eyes. "She'll not want to miss this announcement".

Carl looked at Minion. Something seemed odd about the fish today, but Carl couldn't put his finger on it. "Hello, Minion."

Minion smiled at the man. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Megamind trying hard not to grin, and he sighed inwardly and forced his usual cheery tone. "Hello, Mr Frost!"

The room where the interview would he held was large, as Megamind had requested. Carl stood with the other news station managers, and all the elite members of the city – including the Lord and Lady Scott – stood off to one side. Minion's eyes widened when he saw the Scotts, and he turned to look at Megamind, who had seen what he had been looking at. Megamind gave a shrug and a weak smile.

The mayor chose that moment to walk up to them, glancing nervously around the room as he came over.

Megamind waved, then sighed. "Ollo Alex, and would you stop being so _jumpy?_"

Mayor Alexander Thurston stared at him. "How can you be so relaxed about this?" He, Megamind, and Roxanne had been in contact for much of the past twenty-four hours, and Megamind could tell that Alex had not had much sleep. He looked completely stressed out.

"Oh, it comes with the job title." Megamind took a look around the room before turning back to the mayor. "I was worried that telling you had been a bad idea," he said, and grinned a little, "but I am pleasantly surprised to see that you kept the news to yourself." He glanced over at Minion, but the fish was still staring at the two people not far away, and Megamind turned back to the mayor. "Seriously, though, Alex. _Try_ to relax."

Alex nodded jerkily. "Yes, yes. Relax." He looked away and jumped. "Excuse me! I have to go, the commissioner's just arrived."

Megamind's grin widened. "Oh, _do_ give him my best." He watched as the mayor walked away, then grabbed Minion's arm and pulled him over to the chairs that had been set aside for them.

The announcement would go live in twenty minutes, and Carl spotted someone who he hoped could shine some light on all this madness. "Roxanne!" he called, and moved past the others and ran over to her. "What's going on? Can you tell me why he's called a meeting like this?"

She turned to look at her boss and smiled sweetly. "Sorry, but I can't say a thing – I promised," she apologized, and waved her hand in the direction of the central chairs and both aliens.

Her boss sighed heavily. "I hope it's worth it."

Roxanne's smile widened. "Oh, it will be."

"By the way, why did the police surround the building after everyone was inside?" he asked.

"Oh, just in case there's some kind of trouble," she said vaguely.

"What kind?"

"Not sure. It was his idea."

Carl looked confused for a moment, then looked past her at Megamind and nodded. "Ah…okay?"

Roxanne bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder, and noticed that almost everyone was seated and waiting – those who weren't were trickling towards their seats. "I'll talk to you later, I need to talk to them." Without waiting for Carl to respond, she turned and rushed off.

Megamind and Minion were sitting in front of the waiting crowd and were talking to one another in low voices.

Roxanne came up to them. "Hi, boys," she grinned.

Minion stayed where he was. "Hello, Miss Ritchi."

Roxanne smiled at him, then looked at her blue boyfriend and narrowed her eyes. "Are you really expecting trouble?"

Minion turned to Megamind at this question, and the new hero looked past Roxanne, out at the crowd. "A little, yes," he said, then looked back two pairs of confused eyes and added, "But I have made arrangements just in case."

Minion and Roxanne looked at each other. "Oh?"

Suddenly Megamind grinned darkly, then slowly stood and called out, "Brainbots! Lock all the doors and then set to guard this room!"

Unsurprisingly, everyone in the room stood, their voices rising in panic and worry. It had only been a matter of months since Megamind had defeated Tighten and had begun to rebuild the city and the newly reopened Museum while he was recovering. There was still a lot of distrust and resentment towards Megamind.

Megamind whistled loudly to get the panicked citizens' attention, and then he sat calmly down again in his chair, pure unconcern written all over his face. As he spoke, he gazed slowly around at the gathered citizens. His voice was excited, but his body was totally still and calm and his friends looked at one another, knowing he was up to something. Off to Megamind's right was a camera that would be broadcasting his announcement live, but it wasn't recording anything yet.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Megamind said loudly. "The police already know about all this; I personally told the commissioner, myself." He winked at a man standing at the back of the room, then made a gesture with his hand to signal everyone to go back to their chairs.

"You could have told me," Roxanne hissed at him.

Megamind grinned and leaned close to her, dropping his voice and raising his eyebrows. "And miss that surprised look in your eyes?"

Roxanne's irritation faded and she smiled at him. His childish behaviour could be endearing, sometimes. "I'll let it go this time," she told him, then turned to go to her chair. "Okay. The show's all yours, boys. Knock them dead!"

Megamind laughed and nodded.

Jeremy Autumn was a man who worked for the same news crew as Roxanne. He was well-known around the city, but was not well-liked when he was off-camera. He was a large man but he was not short, and now he stood up and addressed Megamind, glaring. "You don't want us to worry? For all we know, you could be keeping us here!"

Minion looked worriedly at Megamind, but Megamind was still sitting calmly with his eyes closed. "Well, Jeremy." As he spoke, his eyes opened slowly and he looked at the man with a lazy smile. "If you want an answer to that, go look out that large window over there." He lifted an arm and pointed.

Jeremy and most of the others moved to look where Megamind was pointing, and while they were distracted Minion leaned over and whispered into Megamind's ear, "You're enjoying this too much."

"Don't worry, I'll get to the point once these men stop freaking out," Megamind replied.

The people who managed to get a look out the window could see police standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder outside, but they all were facing away from the building – almost as if they were waiting for something.

Megamind's voice made the gathered citizens turn around again.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind." He interlaced his fingers and tilted his head down a little, shadowing his face and making him look very much like the villain he had been. "If we can get on with this, I think we all have better places to be."

As the crowd was once again returning to their seats, a young woman came over and started fiddling with the camera. Megamind raised an eyebrow and looked over at Roxanne, who smiled and mouthed, _That's the new __camerawoman I told you about_. Megamind smiled back and nodded.

A few seconds later, a man walked out from the room next door and Roxanne stood and greeted him. "Hi, Tom. Thanks so much for doing this."

"Oh, it's no trouble." He looked around the room and smirked. "I just can't wait to see the look on Jeremy's face."

She giggled at that. "You two really have to stop this silly rivalry."

"Oh, I think it's only going to get worse after today." He winked at her, then walked over to the chair not far from Megamind and Minion and smiled. "Hey, boys."

Megamind grinned at him happily. "Welcome again, Tom Wilson."

Minion watched as Megamind chatted with Tom, who was a friend of Roxanne's. In the last month, Megamind had made a few new friends – mostly ones who knew Roxanne. Tom Wilson was one of them.

A moment later, the former villain turned to Minion and smiled. "Are you ready?"

Tom raised his voice. "Ladies and gentlemen," he called, "we would like to request that you hold all comments and questions until after Megamind has finished speaking. We'll begin now." He then looked over at the two and nodded.

Seconds later, there was a bright blue flash on Megamind's right side and the crowd – predictably – gasped in varying combinations of pure shock, surprise and outrage as Minion disappeared and was replaced by another well-known face. In Minion's place now sat the former hero of Metro City, Metro Man – also known as Music Man, also known as Wayne Scott.

Megamind stood up quickly and held up his hand, shouting to be heard over the unhappy and confused crowd, but they ignored him. He scowled, and then he shouted again and pulled his gun, firing up at the ceiling. That got the crowd's attention long enough for Megamind to look over at the Mayor and call over the din, "Sorry about that, I'll fix it later, okay?" Then he turned his focus back to the people in front of him, and glared at them fiercely. "Okay," he barked, "now, there _will be order_ in here or I will have my brainbots _remove_ all those of you who don't _shut up_."

Wayne reached out to gently grab the blue alien's arm, stopping him. "Please sit down."

To everyone's surprise, Megamind sat. He knew this was his former rival's time to set a few things right in the eyes of the citizens of Metro City – the real truth about why he had quit – so Megamind leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest and waited. He was only there in case the whole thing went south – that was the deal.

Tom had been sitting still through the action, waiting calmly until the shock had died down. Then he looked over again at the two former rivals and smiled to himself. They both seemed to be handling this really well.

From where Wayne was sitting, he whispered into Megamind, "Do you still think this was a good idea?"

Megamind looked sharply at him, and oh, if looks could kill. In a low voice, he hissed at Wayne, "This was _your_ brilliant idea, remember?" He looked away at 'Camerawoman' but continued, "I had planned to wait a few more months – a year, at most," he looked back at Wayne, "but, oh no, _you_ had to do it _now_."

Suddenly an impatient member of the news crowd shouted, "What? So copper isn't your weakness?"

Megamind looked at Wayne and smirked at that comment. Then he saw how Wayne was glaring at him, and that only added fuel to the grin. But, almost as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished when someone else yelled, "Super blue alien _freak_, go back to Vega!" and then something was thrown.

Wayne looked down at what had been thrown, too shocked really to react, and saw that a handful of copper coins now littered the stage. He scanned the crowned sharply to try and find the one who had spoken and thrown the pennies, but he couldn't.

Then just as quickly, someone else yelled, "_Azure!_"

The vehemence of Megamind's reaction to that word probably was not what the human had expected, but it had its desired effect, and Wayne could only sit in shock as Megamind shot to his feet and bounded forward, his blue face twisted with fury. Wayne knew all too well how that word affected Megamind – he had once called his rival "Azure" when they had been fighting in the city streets, just to rile him, tease him a little. He had rarely seen the villain get truly angry or hurt anyone, but as soon as the word had left Wayne's lips, Minion and the brainbots had scrambled for cover and Wayne himself had been sent careening into the side of a building at a smack from one of Megamind's early battle suits. It had been an early version of the large robot that Tighten had destroyed, and it delivered blow after blow to the hero until he had realized that Megamind was no longer playing their game – was no longer thinking at all. He had been running on pure anger, and his rage had lasted for some time before Wayne was able to stop him. After dropping Megamind off at the prison, Wayne had sworn never to call him that again.

Now he sat, frozen, and watched as Megamind stalked up to the man who had spoken, his green eyes cold and his face hard. Those nearby scrambled to get out of his way, trying to put some distance between them and him – his eyes were nearly glowing with anger – and the object of his attention was as frozen as Wayne until Megamind was looming over him. That was when Megamind went for his gun, and Wayne pulled himself together, speaking out with the full force of the hero he had been.

"Megamind!"

Wayne's commanding tone had the desired reaction on the blue hero, who turned his head and locked eyes with him. After a long, terse silence, Megamind sighed heavily and re-holstered his gun, but he still didn't move and he still looked livid. The man in front of him was glancing wildly around and looking for help or support, but none was forthcoming. The blue alien leaned in close and the man's attention snapped back to Megamind.

"Next time," Megamind said in a low voice, and it was obvious that he meant what he said, "Next time, I will not hold back. You got lucky." He straightened and glanced over at Wayne, knowing that the former hero had heard what he had said, then looked back at the white-faced man in the chair. "Brainbots, take this _thing_ out with the trash." Two brainbots zoomed over and seized the man who had made 'Daddy' angry by the arms, lifting him into the air as he yelled and out the doors before they closed again.

Everyone else, including Wayne and Roxanne, carefully sat or stood or stayed where they were and watched as Megamind made his way back to his chair and sat down. The tension and nervousness of the crowd was almost tangible; everyone was a little jumpy.

Once he was seated, Megamind glanced around for a moment and then grinned like a child who had been found with his hand in a cookie jar. "Sorry about that," he said brightly. "You were saying, Wayne?"

Wayne shook his head, unsurprised by Megamind's sudden emotional change, but he knew the other alien and he knew they were in the clear. And he hoped that the crowd would know better than to test Megamind again. "I'm—"

"Mr. Scott!"

One word and he was interrupted by Lisa Cambell, a new reporter for another news station.

Wayne looked over at her. "Actually, it's just Wayne now." He glanced sadly at his parents, and could tell that his mother was glaring at him. He had hoped they would forgive him, but he understood. Faking his death had hurt them the worst, really.

Lisa nodded in understanding, and then her face fixed on one emotion: anger. "What kind of lying coward _are_ you?"

Roxanne looked at the two aliens, and she could see that Wayne wasn't at all shocked by the question. Megamind was staring at the young woman as if he was very much interested in what she was saying.

But Lisa didn't stop her attack. "First, you fake your death because you're tired of being a hero. You let someone else take the rap for you not having the guts to be up front about the whole thing, and then when something _serious_ goes down with a new super gone bad, you sit in your secret hole with your head buried in the sand and do _nothing?_"

While she said all this Wayne looked down at him lap until someone nudged him in the arm, and then he glanced to his right and saw green eyes staring at him expectantly. He looked up at the crowd. "I'm – look, I'm sorry."

Lisa's face became angrier still as she moved out of her chair and closer to where Wayne was sitting, continuing to rage, "Were you afraid that the new guy would beat you? What about your family?"

Wayne looked over at his parents again, his heart sinking a little in his chest. They were his _parents_. Keeping away from them after faking his death had been one of the hardest things he had ever done. The woman's voice still kept on going. "Did you bother to give them a heads up, or did you just figure you wanted to stop being their son, too?"

"No!" Wayne exclaimed, louder than he had meant to.

One of Lisa's colleagues finally dragged her back to her chair to cool off, and Wayne sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll explain. I don't really expect any of you to forgive me, but…"

"I did," Megamind muttered gruffly, and jerked a thumb over at Roxanne. "So did she."

Wayne glanced at him. "Yeah, but you're special," he said quietly, then raised his voice again. "Despite all my powers, each citizen of Metro City has something I don't – a choice. You all got to choose what you wanted to be when you grew up. I didn't." He looked to the camera and knew that his words were being broadcast live to everyone who hadn't been invited to the press conference. Megamind and Roxanne looked at each other as he spoke.

Wayne felt like he had back in his underground home all those months ago, telling Megamind and Roxanne his reasons. They sound as ridiculous and desperate now as they had then. "And I kept thinking, what about what _I_ want to do? What about _my_ life? And then it hit me, you know, this big question – what am I _doing_ with my life? Nobody said the hero thing had to be a lifetime gig, but I couldn't exactly _quit_, could I?"

Jeremy spoke next. "So, was it ever really about truth and justice, or was it all just about you getting the spotlight and having people suck up to you?" He stood up from his chair in the front row as he spoke.

Wayne looked at the man. "Yes – it _was_ about truth and justice." He looked at Megamind and flushed. "Well…you see…"

A heavy sigh from the blue alien got Jeremy's attention, and his gaze flicked to Megamind, who was sitting with his eyes closed again. "We're not human," Megamind said, taking over for Wayne, but he didn't open his eyes. "I think everyone knows that by now, and I think what Wayne is _trying_ to tell you is that we were younger than you think we are."

Jeremy grinned at this new information. "So you're both just two alien children, and your parents picked this planet and our city for you to use as your own playground." He turned around and smiled significantly at the crowd of reporters and important citizens behind him. A couple of the people nearby tried to make him sit down, but he spun back to face the aliens again – he wasn't finished.

"And what about Megamind being framed for _murder?_Hmmm?" He stepped closer to the aliens with no fear, grinning smugly at Wayne. "How does he feel about that? How does Megamind feel about it?"

Wayne's head was spinning with all the questions that had been fired at him so quickly that he almost couldn't think – he had never had to answer like this before, he had never had to defend his actions before – but after that one, Wayne looked at Megamind and saw that the blue alien was still sitting calmly with his eyes closed.

He opened his mouth to ask his old rival what he felt, but Megamind's eyes shot open and he leaned forward in his chair, placing the tips of his fingers together in front of him. Wayne was pretty sure he was ready for anything that Megamind was going to say, so he closed his eyes and waited.

Megamind scowled at Jeremy and waited for a minute before he spoke. When he did finally speak, his voice rose rapidly. "Look, I'm used to people hating me," he said, "so I really don't care about all that. But I _never_," he added, aiming a finger at Jeremy's chest and stabbing, "I _never_ want you or anyone else to speak ill of my or Wayne's biological parents." He looked past Jeremy, out at the crowd, and sat up a little straighter. "They gave us a change to live, and yes, we _both_ picked the wrong paths for a while. People make mistakes and bad decisions. It happens. But time marches on, and I think – I really believe this is a chance for us all to put the past behind us." Former hero and villain grinned at one another, and all Jeremy could do was look on in shock.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2:  Justice

11

**Title:** Declaration, Chapter 2: Justice

**Author:** Fearcat (Max Evelyn on )

**Co-Author/Beta:**dal_niente (megamind_movie Community)  
><strong>Rating:<strong>PG-13  
><strong>Summary:<strong>This is post-movie, the truth is out and the good citizens of Metro City are mad. Megamind promises to help someone truthly in need.

**Author's****Note:** I've decided to make a slight change in the layout of the story; hopefully it'll not change the flow.

**#####**

Suddenly, an officer of the Metro City Police Department pushed his way into the room and made his way over to Commissioner Jackson Cornwall, leaning forward to speak urgently into Jackson's ear. Since the doors had been pretty much locked by the brainbots, the police officer's entrance was fairly conspicuous. Megamind stood and reached for the watch on his left wrist, then stopped and turned to look at Wayne. "Right, looks like the city's coming for your blood."

Wayne blinked up at him for a second, then shot to his feet in a panic.

"What?" He looked over at the camera that was still filming, baffled. "How could they already know?"

Megamind sighed. He could feel a headache coming on, and he shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose "I told you this announcement was going to be shown live," he reminded the ex-hero wearily. "I told you several times. I'm sure of it."

Whether he had or not, Wayne looked absolutely horrified. "_Live!_" he repeated, aghast. "Are you out of your mind?" He jumped into the air and darted over to a window, where he saw hordes of people shouting, throwing things, and pushing at the police barricade. The camerawoman kept the camera on Wayne, zooming in on his pale face. "They're gonna kill me."

"Oh, please." Megamind calmly walked up to him and looked down, making a small, annoyed sound in the back of his throat. Keeping an eye on the horde outside, he said, "Just relax. I _told_ you I made arrangements."

Wayne turned his body and tried to look him in the eye. He knew that tone of voice, and he knew the smug grin Megamind was wearing. "What _kind_ of 'arrangements'?"

"Oh, I don't do spoilers," Megamind grinned happily, waving a hand at him. "Not to worry, though. I have a _wonderful_ surprise waiting." His grin widened, but he still wouldn't meet Wayne's gaze.

"Megamind," Roxanne said warningly as she joined them.

Megamind pouted a little, then turned to her and heaved a huge sigh. "_Fine_." He lifted his wrist – the one with the watch on – in front of his face and pressed a button. "Minion, have you been watching the news?"

The fish's voice crackled into the room, earnest and amused. "Oh yes, Sir. I've been finding it very entertaining."

Megamind let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. "Code: _get__the__car_."

Jeremy appeared behind them. "You're running away," he said flatly. "I knew it. You're both cowards."

Both Wayne and Megamind stared at him for a moment, then looked at each other, but it was Roxanne who spoke. "You're calling them cowards? You're a moron. And blind as well." She was glaring at him. If looks could kill…

Jeremy lowered his voice and smirked. "Well, _I__'__ve_ not been sleeping with space aliens."

Roxanne heard what he had said very clearly, and she stepped forwards and slapped Jeremy hard across the face with all her strength – considering she was capable of lifting and throwing heavy speakers, 'all her strength' was enough to send Jeremy to the ground. He looked up at her, shocked speechless for once.

Megamind stepped closer to her and whispered in her ear, "You're amazing, you know that," and then scowled down at Jeremy. "I never run from a fight. I knew the citizens of Metro City would act like this when they heard the news – this unveiling was bound to bring backlash, its human nature to protest things like this. No one likes being made a fool of, and perpetrating a hoax of that scale well enough to make everyone believe it is making them look foolish in a big way. And, no – I'm _not_ running, thank you!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Alex called over to him.

Spinning on his heels, Megamind pointed at the man with a flourish, making him jump. "Ah!" he cried. "_That_, my dear Mayor, is the surprise! …Unfortunately, though, we're going to have to wait for juuuuust a few minutes." He looked over at the camera. "Can we cut to a commercial?"

Almost ten minutes had passed before Minion's voice sounded from Megamind's watch again. "Sir, I'm parked out the back, there seems to be a lot of very angry people here."

Megamind looked around at everyone and smiled just as there was a loud bang from one of the doors, making everyone jump. Megamind frowned at it and spoke into his watch.

"Minion, could you send us more brainbots?"

"Oh yes of course! Oh, and Sir?" Minion's tone had turned to one of concern. "Be careful."

Megamind smiled at his life-long friend's words. "I'll be just fine, Minion."

In a fast movement, he twisted the top of the watch and the image of his clothes faded out, revealing a new bodysuit. It closely resembled his others, but the colour scheme was different: it was mostly blue instead of black, with a silver lightning bolt on the front.

Everyone else was too distracted with the doors that were slowly being forced open to notice; Wayne and Roxanne seemed to be the only ones watching Megamind as he walked over to the window, opened it, and without warning, jumped out.

Roxanne ran forwards shouting his name, closely followed by Wayne, but two brainbots zoomed forward and caught Megamind before flying with him up to the roof. Roxanne sighed heavily.

Once on the roof, Megamind was glad he had told Jackson about this plan ahead of time. Brainbots floated around three police officers who had been stationed on the rooftop, and Megamind walked over to them, smiling. "Thanks for looking after…" he nodded at his machine. The youngest of the officers nodded in response, and then the three backed away from the mysterious object as more brainbots began to gather in a cloud around them.

######

Hours later, the city was still enraged about what had happened, but both aliens knew it would take the citizens time to adjust to the fact that Metro Man was still alive. Megamind had appeared on the roof of City Hall with millions of brainbots around him, and the once-evil overlord had silenced the crowd of citizens by having the brainbots pick him up and float him to the ground, where he explained his reasons for making Tighten – to have him be the city's new hero – and how that plan had failed. It hadn't been the explanation the crowd had wanted, but it was enough to placate them and make them think that things were being taken care of.

Shortly after that, Wayne had also appeared and simply floated next to Megamind, as crowd watched and listened to the blue alien talk. The citizens stood and listened to Megamind's plans for the future.

He had sounded reasonable enough, but as he had spoken, Wayne could tell that Megamind was still holding back the fury that he had been bottling up for some time. At that point, it had been very clear to anyone who know the blue alien well that he was going to lose his cool soon, so Wayne had agreed to help if a great enough threat ever came to the city and tried to guide the speech to a speedy ending.

Roxanne was lying back on the sofa in the Lair, happily reading a book, when suddenly a panicked voice calling her name filled the space.

"Roxanne! Roxanne?" Minion's worried voice echoed around the Lair, and the reporter sat her book down and stood.

She made her way over to where the fish was sitting, staring up at a wall of monitors. "What's up, Minion?"

"He's vanished!"

She looked at him oddly at first, then glanced at the screens before looking back at Minion. "Who has?" she asked. Then she sighed. "It's Wayne's night tonight, remember?"

"No, no, no," Minion said, then leaned forward and searched the screens desperately. "_Where__are__you?_" he muttered.

Roxanne looked at the screens again, and remembered that Megamind had given them all tracking devices. She scanned the screen in front of her, picking out Minion's orange dot and her green one next to it. The yellow dot was Wayne's, and Megamind's was blue. She had smiled when he had told them which colours had belonged to whom. But as she looked, she noticed that the blue dot wasn't lit up anywhere within the city, and that Minion had widened the focus to display all the area within a fifty mile radius around the city.

She let her eyes wander around the map on the monitors a little longer, hoping the blue spot would light up or that she had just missed it and would see it at any moment. She knew Megamind could handle himself perfectly well in any street fight, but that didn't stop her from feeling a little panicked as she looked back at Minion in sudden understanding.

He nodded at her. "Yes, it's Sir. He's just…vanished." The fish started typing something on the keyboard, then looked up at the right-most screen, which flashed the words:

{{Device Deactivated}}

Minion and Roxanne looked at each other again. Roxanne finally swallowed and said, "Why do you think he's turned it off?" She couldn't really hope that maybe Megamind did this every now and again; the look on Minion's face told her that this was not a regular occurrence.

"I'm not sure."

There was a pause. "I'm sure he'll be all right," they said in unison, and they both sounded a lot more certain than they felt.

Sitting in the invisible car, Megamind sighed as he looked out the window at the apartment building. He moved his hands off the wheel and reached down to set his watch. He had turned off the tracking mode some time ago even though he knew that if he did that, Minion would start to panic and worry. He would make it up to his friend later, somehow, but right now, he didn't want anyone to come looking for him. He needed to do this alone.

Moments later, blue light flashed and the image of a dark-haired man in black jeans and a blue t-shirt sat in Megamind's place. He sat for a moment, sighed, and then reached for the door handle and opened the door and stepped out.

Walking down the hallway of the complex, Megamind glanced down at the old, raggedy bit of paper he had brought with him, and then looked at the numbers on the doors. Then he came to a sudden stop. He was standing outside the door of the man whose appearance he had stolen for almost three months before he had ended up in the washing machine back at the Lair.

Megamind sighed again, then knocked three times on the door.

Silence briefly filled the hallway, but then there was a loud bang from within and then a muffled voice, and then the door flew open and Megamind looked at the owner, his eyebrows scooting up his forehead in shock.

Bernard didn't look anything like he had all those months ago when Megamind had first scanned his image. He looked a lot more stressed, more on edge, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. His wild hair stuck out in all directions more than it usually did, as if he had just stuck his thumb in an electrical outlet.

Megamind just stood there, his mouth hanging open slightly as his own worry started to set in. He considered turning around and leaving – he _wanted_ to turn around and leave – but he stood his ground.

Bernard narrowed his eyes at the dark figure and looked right into the man's toxic green eyes and nodded to himself. He poked his head out into the hallway and looked up and down, then back at the dark haired man. "Your friend's not with you?"

Megamind shook his head. He knew Bernard was talking about Minion, and he didn't find it odd that, out of everyone, Bernard was able to tell right away who he was under the disguise. It was actually kind of a relief to know that _someone_ could tell he was still under there. "No," he said. "I'm alone."

"Come in, then," Bernard said in a weak voice, then turned and disappeared back into his apartment. Megamind swallowed, glanced over his shoulder – and followed.

Almost a month had gone by since Minion had found Bernard in the washing machine and used the forget-me stick on him. Bernard had later woken up in his apartment; Minion had taken the liberty of going through Bernard's wallet to find out where he lived.

Bernard had thought it was all a dream, at first. But he had found out from his boss at work that he had been missing for three months, and after doing some digging, he had been able to piece together most of the story: Megamind had stolen his life for three months while he had dated Roxanne.

It was pure luck that his boss hadn't fired him. Bernard hated to do it, but in some small way he thanked the madness that Hal…Tighten…whatever he called himself, the hero-turned-villain had wreaked on the city. Nothing said 'job security' like understaffing due to employees fleeing the city.

Minion was becoming more and more worried about Megamind. It was very late at night by this time, and Megamind still wasn't back and hadn't called and Minion still couldn't understand why he had turned off the tracking device. Roxanne had gone back to sit on the sofa, and a few brainbots were hovering around them making worried sounds while others drifted aimlessly throughout the Lair.

"Why would he turn it off?" Minion asked the monitors for the one hundredth time in the past three hours. "What's he _doing?_ Where _is_ he?"

Roxanne sighed, stood up, and walked over to him. "Minion" she said softly, and he turned to look at her. "He'll be okay. Trust me. I'm not sure where he is," she smiled sweetly, trying to reassure him, "but I am sure he's in good hands."

"But what if someone comes and attacks the city and we can't call him?"

Roxanne looked over her shoulder at the clusters of brainbots. "Oh, I think we can handle it." She turned back to him, her smile turning wicked. "Besides, that's what plan 'Music' is for, right?"

"Oh yes, Miss Ritchi." Roxanne's presence was extremely calming; it was moments like this that Minion understood why Megamind loved her.

The clock was getting close to midnight back at Bernard's apartment. Megamind had sat down on the edge of a scruffy-looking sofa, and was now staring anywhere but at the scruffy-looking human leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. The ticking of the clock was obnoxiously loud – or maybe the silence in the apartment was just too pervasive. Megamind steeled himself, then looked up and squarely at Bernard. "Look," he said. "I'm – I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I stole your life, but you see, at the time everything was happening so _fast_ and I _panicked_, and then seeing you, I mean, I didn't mean to leave it for so long but I just –"

"Its fine, Megamind," Bernard interrupted. "It happened, it's over. Let it go."

Megamind watched as Bernard made his way over to the kitchen and the fridge, where he turned and said the four words Megamind so needed to hear. "You want a drink?"

Megamind smiled gratefully. "_Please_."

Over the years there had been lots of rumours about him and the way his body might or might not be different from a human's. One of them was about his ability to handle alcohol. Oh, it affected him, but not in the same manner it did humans. To Megamind, alcohol was like an energy drink, only stronger – five times stronger than Red Bull, he estimated. Coffee was one thing, but alcohol took effect much more quickly and was much more potent. Megamind drank when his thoughts became too much for him, when ideas or voices telling him about new inventions would rage into his mind too quickly for him to respond or drive them away. If it weren't for Minion's care, Megamind would become physically ill – he had found only one way of stopping these thoughts, and that was with alcohol. Minion had started mixing it into his morning coffee over the last few years.

He remembered the first time he had drunk alcohol. He'd had enough to put any human in a hospital for weeks, or worse. He had escaped the prison without Minion's help, afterward. He would never do that again.

He had come a cross a bar in one of the back streets of the city while trying to find Minion after one of their plans had gone south – he had heard police sirens approaching, so he had ducked into the darkened bar to hide. Once inside, he had looked around, preparing to run again if he had to, but no one had seemed to care who he was so he had shrugged and stayed. He'd wandered up to the bar and stood, unsure of what to do or say, until one of a group of four men had ordered him a round. And then another. And another after that. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the man had been trying to get Megamind drunk, have a little fun with him, but at the time Megamind hadn't twigged to what was happening until after he had sobered up the next day.

Unfortunately, the thug's plan had backfired in a _big_ way. By the time Minion tracked his friend down, Megamind had been sitting in the empty nightclub surrounded by broken glass and splintered furniture, so out of it that he couldn't speak. Minion hadn't known what to do; he had never seen his friend like this. And he'd hated the idea but he had known that the prison would be a safe place for Megamind to sleep it off – the warden would look after him – so he had shoved his boss into the car and taken him 'home.'

The next day, when Megamind had woken up, he'd had one hell of a killer migraine and it had lasted for nearly a week. The warden and a few of the guards had looked after him while he had recovered, and of course word got around and the rumour that Megamind couldn't handle alcohol had started.

But the reality of it was that he could _more_ than handle alcohol – he just had to be careful of how much he drank. Back then, he hadn't been able to remember how he had gotten from the club to the prison until the Warden had told him what had happened and Minion's part in it. Megamind had stayed in his cell for another week before planning and executing his escape.

The sight of a glass in Bernard's hand brought Megamind back to the here and now, and he took the glass and smiled. "Thanks," he said, and took a long gulp of the amber liquid.

"Hey, you want to go easy on that," Bernard warned him, flopping into an overstuffed armchair in the corner.

"Oh, I can handle this much better than you think," Megamind replied with a smirk, and pointed to his chest. "Alien, remember?"

Bernard looked over his glass at him. "Really."

Still smirking, Megamind sat back in the sofa. "It's Metro Man who can't drink alcohol. He thinks it would make him lose too much control over his powers. He hates that." He laughed, then leaned forwards, grabbed the bottle, and poured more into his glass.

Bernard narrowed his eyes. "Are you out of your mind? You do know you're talking about a dead guy as if he were alive, right?"

Megamind laughed lightly then looked at Bernard. He took another long drink, then put the glass down. His movements were no longer hesitant. "You haven't seen the news?"

Megamind watched Bernard shake his head. "Haven't had time. I've been working longer hours to make up for lost time, I just got back from work a little while ago."

Megamind sighed. "Ah, okay. Long story _very_ short then – he's not dead. He never was."

Bernard closed his eyes and sighed, and the clock decided to remind them that it was still very late by ticking loudly into the thoughtful silence. Finally, still with his eyes closed, Bernard said, "Metro Man's alive. But…"

Megamind spoke carefully. "We both stood in front of the city today. I was angrier with him weeks ago. Couldn't even look at him, let alone get him to come forward. But after Roxanne talked to him, well…it was like she tired him out." He grinned. "And she made him face the music, as it were."

Bernard's eyes opened and he looked slowly around the living room, confused. "Why are you telling me this?"

Megamind looked down at his glass on the table, smirking. "Because of what I did to you. I think you deserve to know what's been going on. Get back into life, you know?" He looked up at the man in front of him.

Bernard actually laughed, which was odd. In all the time Megamind had known the man, he hadn't laughed once. The laughter faded fast and he was back to being his normal frowning self, and if Megamind hadn't heard it with his own ears he never would have believed it had happened. "Well, thank you, but I don't seem to be handling life well lately."

Megamind sat up and scooted forwards in his chair. "Can I help?"

Bernard's eyes widened and he looked at Megamind right in the eyes. He knew that Megamind had been working harder than ever over the last few months, trying hard to turn around his life and show the city that he was good. Bernard suddenly remembered the letter Megamind had sent him, thinking he would never come here – he had let himself forget about it.

"Well…you see, it's…" Bernard looked down, grabbed the bottle and his glass and filled it and took a long drink. Megamind smirked and did the same, then squirmed around until he was more comfortable on the sofa.

"When you used your gun on me…when you turned me into that _stupid_ cube…" He glared down into his glass, hunching over in his chair. "My mother. She had just gone into to the hospital." He gulped down another mouthful of liquor, looking almost as if he had some kind of grudge against it. "She's sick. We didn't know how sick until earlier that day. She…" He ground his teeth, and Megamind was abruptly and uncomfortably aware that he was barely holding himself together. "She's got a few months left. Maybe a year, if she's very, v-very lu-ucky…oh _damn_." He turned his face away, shoulders shaking.

Megamind blinked at him – sitting there crying and trying so hard not to – and remembered all that his own parents had done for him. He had lost his parents early, but he certainly didn't blame Bernard for losing control like this; Megamind remembered what that had felt like. In spite of all the alcohol in his system, an idea popped into his head and he knew instinctively that it was a good one.

He carefully placed his glass on the table, and then he leaned forward and took Bernard's glass and put that on the table, too. Then he sat up on the sofa as best he could and coughed lightly to get the other's attention. Bernard looked at him, red-eyed and resentful-looking and stressed.

"Right then," Megamind said. "I'm not a doctor, but I think I can help."

Bernard's face was a picture of pure confusion. "What?"

"I'll design something to help your mother with her illness!" Megamind exclaimed. "All I'll need is her, your, and the doctor's consent to look at her medical files. I can help. I _know_ I can help. And I owe you one anyway."

Bernard's eyes widened and he stared at the smiling blue alien across from him for a few seconds before discovering that he was suddenly speechless. As Megamind stood up shakily and made his way to the door, Bernard found his voice.

"Where…where are you going?"

Megamind turned his head and called back over his shoulder. "Back to the Lair and start working on this!" And without another word, he was gone.

Bernard just sat for a moment, open-mouthed, and then he jumped to his feet and followed Megamind out the door, shouting after him. "Wait! You crazy – you _stupid_ – you can't drive like that, come back!"

Megamind had made it outside and was in the process of unlocking the car. Bernard came skidding out of the building and stopped some distance behind him, suddenly aware that he was still only wearing his socks. Megamind glanced back at him, finally fitting the key into the lock.

"You know drunk driving is illegal," Bernard said, and immediately wanted to slap himself. Of course Megamind knew it was illegal. He was _Megamind_.

Megamind grinned. "Thanks for your concern, but I'll be OK." He jerked the door open and stepped in, but poked his head out again before closing the door. "Bernard, get a hold of yourself by tomorrow morning – I'll be over to pick you up! We're gonna fix this, don't you worry!"

"O…okay?" Bernard's mind seemed to be swimming, but Megamind's enthusiasm was infectious – as he turned to go back inside, he realized that he was smiling, and he paused and watched as the car roared to life and drove off.

TBC…

Shattered Mind - Coming Soon


End file.
